That Teacher (Wattys2016)

Chapter 23: Christmas Revelations

Chapter 23: Christmas Revelations

The car ride was pretty silent. I was too busy trying to think of a way to stop Carla. She probably sent those pictures to her phone... or maybe her email? All I knew was that I needed to get my hands on them and delete them. How am I going to get rid of her? She wasn't some teen I could send back to her parents.

Maybe Anna was right, maybe she had other motives. Why would she want Chad this badly?

"Are you going to come out or am I gonna have to drag you?" I heard Max chuckle.

I couldn't believe that we were already here. I must have been in my mind for over an hour just thinking of schemes. I'll deal with her when I got back to town tomorrow. Right now, all I had to do was relax and not worry about the guy I love leaving me for my older, prettier, and evil cousin. Right now, I didn't know a Chad or a Carla.

I grabbed my bag from under my foot and the painting Chelsea made for me, and stepped out of his black corvette. Their new house was bigger than the one back home. It was in this gated community where all the houses looked alike, tall with grand driveways. The two story monstrosity was covered in peach paint and his parents' Cadillacs were parked in front of us.

"Whoa." I gasped, taking in the beauty. All the bushes were clipped to perfect circles and the grass was standing at a nice height, glowing a bright green in the setting sun.

"Looks like the most boring neighborhood ever." Max muttered, leading me to the front door.

His mother was the one to open the door, wrapped in a reef patterned apron. It was never a good thing when she was cooking.

I heard a Max swallow a gulp before he hugged his mother. We both walked in after I greeted her. A foul smell was traveling from the kitchen, suffocating us with its toxic smoke. She wasn't a great cook but her decorating skills were almost as well as Anna's mom. The spacious home was covered in detailed gold and white vases on top of mahogany furniture that matched the frames of the pictures that hung on the walls. It was nice to see that they didn't throw away my pictures but also a bit disturbing.

Actually, it wasn't disturbing at all. Mrs. Flynn was one of my closest friends and just because I no longer dated her son didn't mean she had to stop loving me.

"Oh dear, my oatmeal is burning!" she ran back towards the site of the smell and I followed Max to the living room where his father and their Christmas tree sat.

He sat comfortable watching a rerun of 'Whose Line Is It Anyways' as he breathed through the medical mask under his eyes.

He tossed us each one once he saw us and we took them graciously. How could she do this much damage to oatmeal? I wonder if I was that bad...

Mr. Flynn lifted his mask briefly to speak. "She's on her third batch."

"I'll go in and take over." Max announced, wrapping the mask over his face.

"Merry Christmas Eve." I smiled, taking a seat on the sofa. I set their gift at their Christmas tree next to me and fumbled through my bag for Max's gift and placed it next to it.

He shifted in his recliner, finding the remote so he could mute Wayne Brady.

"You too. So... do you know how things are going on with him?" he muffled under his mask.

"He's doing fine. He just wants to get through high school and move on to UCF."

"Yeah, he got an offer from them but Duke is bidding for him too."

"Well, he's keen on going to Tampa. You know that."

"I know but I'm sure you could get him to change his mind."